Animated doll with members controlled by weighted, swiveled, slidably mounted interior rod

ABSTRACT

An animated object in the form of a doll is provided and comprises a pair of casings for the trunk and head portions of the doll. For moving various parts of the doll such as the eyes, arms and lips a control rod is provided which has at an end thereof in the trunk casing a ponderable ball-like member serving as a counterweight and effecting free sliding and rotar movement of the rod in a swivel bearing fixedly mounted in the body of the doll. Actuating means are provided and rendered operative by the rod when moved by the counterweight for in turn moving parts of the doll to which the actuating means are connected.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,881,275

Baulard-Cogan 1 May 6, 1975 {54] ANIMATED DOLL WITH MEMBERS 1,978,337 10/1934 Bowers 46/135 R CONTROLLED BY WEIGIITED, SWIVELED, g c 1 er..... SUDABLY MOUNTED INTERIOR ROD 2,727,334 12 1955 Ostrander 46/120 [75] Inventor: Raymond Gerard Baulard-cogan, 3,153,880 10/1965 Swanberg et a1. 46/120 X Louveciennes France Baulard-Cogan R 3,404,483 10 1968 Gardef et a1. 46/135 R [73 Assignee: Agence Nationale de Valorisation de 3,738,055 6 1973 Marble 46 135 R la Recherche ANVAR, Neuilly-sur-seine, France Primary ExaminerF. Barry Shay [22] Filed: Feb. 19, 1974 Appl. No.: 443,505

[57] ABSTRACT An animated object in the form of a doll is provided and comprises a pair of casings for the trunk and head portions of the doll. For moving various parts of the doll such as the eyes, arms and lips a control rod is provided which has at an end thereof in the trunk casing a ponderable ball-like member serving as a counterweight and effecting free sliding and rotar movement of the rod in a swivel bearing fixedly mounted in the body of the doll. Actuating means are provided and rendered operative by the rod when moved by the counterweight for in turn moving parts of the doll to which the actuating means are connected.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMAY 6l975 SHEET 1 UF 3 PATENTEUHAY BIBYS 3,881,275

SHEEI 2 OF 3 ANIMATED DOLL WITH MEMBERS CONTROLLED BY WEIGHTED, SWIVELED, SLIDABLY MOUNTED INTERIOR ROD The present invention relates essentially to animated objects in the form. for example. of dolls figured personage, creatures including animals. toys and the like wherein is mounted an animating device for controlling, operating or effecting diverse movements and/or deformations of said object.

More precisely the device comprises a movable body or member such as a ponderable ball adapted to move inside the object when the latter is displaced or its attitude or orientation is changed. the motions of said movable body or member being transmitted through levers, cables or functionally equivalent mechanical. magnetic or electrical connecting means to parts of said object for moving and/or deforming the parts.

An animated object of the kind referred to has been disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3.48l,070 issued on Dec. 2. 1969 to the applicant herein.

Having regard to the animated object disclosed in the mentioned patent and in consideration of the state of the known prior art. the present invention is characterized in that said ponderable ball is provided within said object as a counterweight at the end of a rod which is slidahly and rotatably mounted within a stationary swivel bearing forming a ball-and-socket joint fixedly secured within said object, said operating levers, cables and the like. for controlling the object, are operatively connected to the rod for actuation thereby.

With the concept herein disclosed it is possible to achieve very large and variable reduction ratios for the several control means used for animating said object. Such variations are obtained in a continuous and gradual fashion. Movements and deformations of parts of the object may be large or on a reduced scale as may be necessary. The exerted forces may be great or small depending on the manner in which the object is manipulated.

With the application design one may effectively obtain by displacing a weight. precise. diversified and random life-like movements of parts of the object.

Another feature of the invention is that the counterweight is mounted so as to be free to move within a first casing or housing of the object. The first casing has by way of example. a substantially frusto-conical shape. a casing being closed at its smaller cross-sectional area end by said mentioned ball-and-socket like joint or swivel bearing. The end of the rod opposite the end to which the counterweight is secured is movable within a second casing or housing of the object in which second housing are accommodated most of the control or actuating means for operating said object. When. for example, the object is a doll, the first casing is desirably housed within the body portion of said doll whereas the second casing is mounted within the head portion. the baIl-and-socket like joint or swivel bearing being provided substantially at the neck level of the doll. Both casings are desirably stiff and not deformable. The body of the doll may be moulded from a flexible or yielding deformable material cast over these casings. The second casing may form the skull of the doll in which case it is pivotally mounted onto the trunk of the doll.

It is thus possible to provide a doll, the organs and like parts or components of which are animated and the skin of which, in particular that on the face, is deformable to produce such human expressions as occur during smiling, laughter, weeping, sleeping, fright. astonishment. and so on.

It is a further feature of an embodiment of the invention that both aforementioned casings are held together or kept assembled in spaced relationship by the envelope of the body of the doll which is moulded from a flexible material cast thereover. Such a construction facilitates the assembling of both casings, makes the doll mechanically stronger, while providing the necessary degree of flexibility substantially in the neck region and moreover increases the expressiveness of the doll by making same respond to movement of the head relative to the trunk which occurs for example when raising the doll by its head from the lying or recumbent position to the sitting position.

Moreover. because of interaction of the various mechanisms when operated by the lever, complex and often unpredictable chain reactions are produced which result in surprising combinations of expressions and movement of parts thereby increasing the pleasure of the child in handling the doll.

The invention will be better understood and further objects, characterizing features, details and advantages thereof will appear more clearly as the following explanatory description proceeds with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings given by way of non-limiting examples only illustrating two forms of embodiment of the invention as applied to a doll featuring a new-born child. In the accompanying drawings:

the two FIGS. 1 and 2 show the same doll in section with parts broken away in slightly different operating positions;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view ofa doll made according to an alternative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a more detailed view showing the control mechanism for actuating the eyes of the doll illustrated in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional fragmentary view showing an anatomical detail.

According to the form of embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a doll in form of a new-born child comprises a body 10 moulded from a flexible deformable material cast over two rigid casings, one 11 of which is mounted within the trunk portion of the doll and the other 12 in the form of a skull mounted within thehead portion of the doll. These casings may be made from any suitable material, desirably from plastics or like synthetic material of a sufficient rigid or stiff grade. The casing 12 is pivotally mounted by means of a swivel or balI-and-socket joint with its base 12a rotatable within a cradle or like bearing or socket portion 13 formed at the upper portion of the casing 11. The casing 11 is generally of frusto-conical configuration having at its top portion an opening forming a neck or like throat portion I4 of reduced diameter in which the swivel or ball-and-socket joint 16 is rotatably mounted in a bushing in form of a cup or socketlike bearing 15.

In the casing 11 is mounted a ponderable ball made for instance from steel or lead 17 which is secured at the end of a lever 18 which may consist for instance of a steel rod. The counterweight 17 may be encompassed at least in part by a collar or ring 19 made from rubber or the like which will damp or absorb the shocks of the counterweight within the casing II.

The rod 18 is mounted within the ball joint 16 so as to be freely rotatable and freely slidable and it projects at its other end into the casing 12 of the skull.

The different pivotally connected organs or members of the doll such for instance as the hands 20. the eyes 21, the lowerjaw 22, etc .are actuated by operating mechanisms having sheathed cables. links and levers. etc which are appropriately connected to the rod 18 adapted to set parts of the object into motion.

Thus for instance a cable 23 under sheathing may be seen which enables actuation ofthe hand 20. The cable 23 is accommodated within the body of the doll (it has been shown externally for ease ofillustration One end of the cable 24 which extends out of the sheath is secured to a ring or collar 25 which is slipped over the rod 18 on which it may freely rotate and slide. The other end 26 of the cable extends down to the fingers of the hand. When the end 24 of the cable is pulled as shown in FIG. 2. the fingers of the hand are operated in the closing direction. the closing action being strong because the force exerted is multiplied by the length of the lever arm. the cable 24 being secured close to the point of pivotal connection of the ball joint 16. A cable 23 is of course provided for each of the hands of the doll.

In the illustrated embodiment. the actuation of the mouth and more specifically of the lower jaw 22 is effected by a lever 30 pivotally connected at 31 in thejaw and guided at 32 within an orifice forming a bearing. provided in the stiff skull 12. The other end 33 of the lever is formed with a hole 34 through which passes a small string 35 one end 36 ofwhich is secured to a ringshaped collar 37 which is slidable on the rod 18 and the other end of which carries a ball 38 large enough to prevent the small string from passing through the hole 34 as will be seen in FIG. 1. A guide pulley 39 for the small string 35 is fastened to the skull.

According to the position of the counterweight 17. i.e. of the lever or rod 18 within the body of the doll. the lever 30 is either pulled (FIG. I to move the mouth towards its closing direction or is released leaving the mouth in the normal half-open as-moulded position. In FIG. 2, the lever 30 is not actuated by string 35 but the mouth is nevertheless closed since the skull 12 has been turned forward in the direction of the arrow F on the casing 11.

In the embodiment shown in the drawings. the movement of the eyes is obtained by of a lever consisting of two parts 40. 41 sliding relative to or telescoping within each other and which extends through a ball-andsocket joint 42 which is secured to a bar 43 to which each one of both eyes is fastened through a backward projection 44 integral with the eye-ball. The lever 41 slides within a ball-and-socket joint 45 which may consist for instance of a magnetic ball which tends normally to extend into a cradle or socket 46 also of magnetic character of a member 47 mounted endwise of the rod 18.

At the bottom of the casing 11 is provided a bellow 50 which is normally biased into extended position by an inner spring (not shown) or by equivalent means. On this bellow is provided a number of protrusions 51 which, when acted upon or squashed during movement of the counterweight 17, produce various sounds for simulating infant cries or wails.

According to the embodiment shown in the drawings a porous tongue 53 is mounted within the mouth 54 and it communicates with a duct 55 provided in a cavity 56 formed on the abdomen between the front wall of the vessel or shell 11 and the moulded body of the doll. The cavity 56 communicates with a lower portion of a urethra-like duct 57. A ball 58 is freely mounted within the cavity 56 for movement between an upper and a lower position. In FIG. 2 the lower position is shown at 58'. whereat the ball closes or seals off the duct 57.

The doll is animated, as will be seen from the previous description under control of lever 18 the movement of which is itself under control of the counterweight 17. More specifically, it will be appreciated that by virtue of the tilt imparted to the doll, the counterweight 19 assumes various positions within the casing 11 and that according to these positions various motions of various amplitudes and forces are transmitted to the different organs of the doll. At the same time various sounds are produced upon depressing protrusions 51 on bellow mechanism 50. In some tilted positions of the doll the resulting motions may be of great force. Thus if the doll is rocked very powerful closing forces are transmitted to the hands so that the doll with its hands will cling to or grip the person holding the same. When it is rocked or dandled. the doll upon displace ment of counterweight 17 will move its jaws and therefore its lips. It will be appreciated that alternate opening and closing motion of the mouth with accompanying lip action may be used for simulating sucking or feeding.

Positions will enable urinating and some others induce a response resembling sleep with gradual closing of the eyes. All the movements are attended by various sounds such as those emitted for instance by new-born babies. These functions are performed by the doll illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5.

According to the embodiment of FIGS. 3 to 5 wherein the same reference numerals increased by one hundred units are used to denote the organs of the animated doll similar to those illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 2. a doll is shown which comprises a body defined by an envelope moulded from deformable flexible material for example rubber-like material cast over two rigid casings. One casing 111 is mounted within the trunk of the doll while the other casing 112 forms a skull mounted within the head. As in FIGS. 1 and 2 these casings may be made from any suitable material. desirably of plastics or synthetic material of a sufficiently rigid or stiff character. As seen in FIG. 3, both casings are held in spaced relation to one another by the envelope 110 of the body of the doll which is over these two casings. The flexibility of the envelope 110 provides some freedom of motion to the head with respect to the trunk.

At the bottom of the skull 112 is fitted an element 60 secured below the skull by any suitable means such as screwing or welding. Between the element 60 and the bottom of the skull 112 there is accommodated a socket bearing 115 for a ball joint 116 which freely rotates with the socket. As in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, a rod 118 is mounted for free rotation and free sliding movement within the ball joint 116 and projects at one end thereof into the skull 112 and being connected at its other end to a ponderable ball 117 forming a counterweight.

To damp or absorb the shocks of the ball 117, there are provided in this embodiment two frustums of a cone 61, 62 formed in the skull 112 and in the element 60, respectively, each cone being formed with a passage shaped to limit angular displacement of the rod 118.

According to the instant embodiment the actuation of the arms is provided by a ball 63 slidably mounted on the rod 118 within the casing 111 of the trunk. said ball 63 comprising two bearing formations 64, 65 for accommodating two ball-and-socket joints 66, 67 provided at the free ends of two curved rockers or like swinging members 68. 69 freely extending within orifices (one of which is shown at 70) formed in the wall of the envelope 110. The other end of members 68, 69 are respectively connected to counterweights 72, 73 which respectively extend into hollow arm 74, 75 of the doll. It should be noted that the orifices are provided in the wall of the flexible envelope of the doll between casings 111, 112. Strengthening or reinforcing parts (one of which is shown at 76) may be provided as shown in FIG. 3.

Movement of the eyes is accomplished as will be appreciated from FIG. 4 which shows a mechanism comprising a swivel or ball-and-socket joint 78 which is slidably carried on an end portion of an elongate member 118, of reduced diameter compared to the rod 118 from which it extends; on the ball joint 78 is pivotally connected a balanced rocker or like swinging lever 79 at each end of which are formed two bores 80, 81 for the free sliding motions of both rods 82, 83 connected to the irises 84, 84'. respectively. of the eyes. Each lever 82, 83 has mounted thereon a like mechanism comprising a fork 86 constituted of arms and 87, the latter being pivotally connected to the former and having an extension 87a. secured. for example. by a small string 88 at a stationary fastening point 89 of the skull. Both arms of the fork 86 are shaped to encompass or grip the eye coverings 90, 91 of the doll. which eye coverings are made from resiliently deformable material of the envelope 110 covering or lining the doll.

For actuating the mouth and the chin. there is provided a generally L-shaped fish-hook 92 which is hooked into the chin 93 of the doll and straddles the tongue 94. The fish-hook is operated at its upper portion where it is attached at 92a to a cable 95 which is filled. with possible gearing down over sheaves 96, 97, carried within the skull. and fixed at 118b at the end of the rod 118.

As to the tongue 94 the latter consists of a pearshaped hollow bulb moulded for instance from rubber which is housed within the buccal cavity 98 formed as a recess in the envelope of the doll. This cavity is closed in sealing or fluid-tight relationship except for a hole 99 for the passage of the rear end 94a of the tongue which opens into a connecting pipe 200 forming an ingestion tube and which leads with its other end to a bladder-like pocket 201 provided at the bottom of the trunk of the doll. The buccal cavity 98 exhibits a lower cup-like portion 98a on which the tongue 94 bears. The latter is formed at its lower portion with an orifice 94b which registers in confronting relationship with the hollow cup-like portion 98a of the buccal cavity. The mounting of the tongue is effected through force fitting and resilient locking of the rear end 94a of the tongue into the hole 99. Such a mounting is fluid-tight.

The bladder-like pocket 201 at the bottom of the doll is closed towards the top by a plug 202 which engages an opening defined by a belly-band or like hoop 203,

the envelope 110 being reinforced in this region. The remainder of the pocket is defined by the envelope 110.

As seen in FIG. 3 the bladder-like pocket 201 communicates with the urethra 204.

At 150 is shown as in FIGS. 1 and 2 the bellow which produces sounds when it is squashed or squeezed by the counterweight 117. In the instant mounting the bellow 150 is desirably secured onto the plug 202. The spring (not shown) which is mounted within the bellow 150 and which urges same to extended position is desirably calibrated so as to substantially counterbalance or offset the weight of the ponderable ball.

The assembly of the doll above described may be carried out very simply.

The ball 63 for operating the arms is slipped over the rod 118 after the assembly of the ball 117 and rod are mounted within lower casing 111 with ball 117 extending through opening 211 at the bottom of the casing 111. Then the control mechanism for actuating the eyes and the chin is operatively assembled within the skull 112 to the rod 118. The ball joint 116 and its socket or bearing 115 is then mounted on element 60 and the skull then placed as shown in H6. 3. The connection of the tongue to the ingestion tube 200 is made whereafter the resilient body covering of the doll is applied which holds the parts. such as casings 111, 112, the legs and the shoulders in place. Obviously. the plug 202 and the bellow will have been positioned within the envelope before it is applied. Also the tongue will have been mounted within the buccal cavity. Afterwards the rockers 68, 69 for operating the arms are mounted together with their counterweights 72, 73 and then the fore arms and the hands are affixed for instance by means ofsimple resilient clips 73a. 73b.

All of the control mechanisms for actuating the various parts of the doll are operated by the counterweight 117 and as the control means are reversibly operable over predetermined limits they provide wide variations of movements.

The animations of the doll are therefore seen to be essentially a function of its positioning. The parts are so organized that in the supine position. the doll will give the appearance of sleeping because the eyes will be covered by the eyelids which are operated by forks 86 as previously described. The mouth in this position will be relaxed.

When the baby is sitting the eyes will be open and the mouth tends to close, not necessarily completely. When the baby is rocked in a position with the back of its head supported by one arm and its legs supported by the other arm of the person holding the doll. weight 117 will be moved angularly about its pivot 115, 116 from left to right as viewed in FIG. 3. In so doing the eyes will be moved in counterdirection giving thereby the appearance of the eyes following the person rocking the doll. The mouth is sucking when the baby is being rocked. dandled or swung. When a feeding-bottle is inserted into the mouth. the liquid is automatically sucked or drawn by the tongue into the mouth and the ingestion tube down to the bladder. In the standing position or in a position on the belly. the liquid contained within the bladder will flow out and exit through the urethra.

Grins and face deformations will be obtained in other positions. Sounds will be produced by interaction of the bellow 150 with its inner spring when extended or with ball 117 when squeezed thereby.

With the disclosed construction. taking into account the many mechanical parts used and the interaction therebetween, a large number of expressive facial and body movements may be obtained.

According to the detail modification illustrated by FIG. Sin relation to a doll of the female sex. the urethra communicating with the bladder 201 will be reduced to a cut-out 206 made through the envelope 110 of the doll at the desired location in a reduced thickness portion of said envelope shaped by a inner moulding into a lenticular hollow recess 207 provided on the inner face of the envelope. With this construction, the pocket 201 will remain in closed sealing relationship except when the legs of the doll are spread apart, at which time. a substantially circular opening is obtained. enabling a jet of liquid to flow out when the bladder is full of liquid and the doll predeterminedly oriented.

It should be understood that the invention is not at all limited to the forms of embodiment shown and described herein which have been given by way of examples only. the invention including all the technical equivalents of the means described as well as their combinations if same are carried out in accordance with its gist and used within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animated doll comprising a body having movable and deformable members associated with said body. each member being provided with a respective actuating means connected thereto. a hollow space formed in said body. a movable ponderable ball-like member mounted for movement inside the hollow space of the body and transmitting means for transmitting the displacements of said ball-like member to said actuating means. said transmitting means comprising a rod movable in said hollow space, said ball-like member being mounted like a counterweight at one end of said rod, means movably mounting said rod comprising a swivel bearing fixedly mounted in said body of the doll. said rod freely sliding and rotating in said swivel bearing according to the movement of said ball member and said actuating means being connected to said rod.

2. A doll according to claim 1, comprising two casings. said hollow space being enclosed by one of said 8 casings, said casings being proximate one another and separated by said swivel bearing. said ball moving in said one of said casings and said rod extending through both casings.

3. A doll according to claim 2, wherein a first one of said casings is located in the trunk portion of the doll, the second casing being mounted within the head portion of the doll. said swivel bearing being substantially at the neck level of the doll.

4. A doll according to claim 3, wherein said first and second casings are of substantially rigid, nondeformable. material.

5. A doll according to claim 4, wherein the body of said doll is moulded from a deformable flexible material applied over said casings.

6. A doll according to claim 5, wherein said second casing is pivotally supported on a ball joint adjacent to said swivel bearing.

7. A doll according to claim 5, wherein both casings are held in their respective positions in spaced apart relation to one another by the moulded material.

8. A doll according to claim 7. wherein said swivel bearing is supported in the body of the doll between two conical parts having passages communicating with a bore in the swivel bearing to permit angular motion of said rod.

9. A doll according to claim 8, wherein one of said parts constitutes the bottom of the skull and the other an insert fixed below the skull.

10. A doll according to claim 5. wherein said movable members include hollow arm portions and the actuating means therefor include a spherical member slidably mounted on said rod within the trunk casing. said spherical member comprising two parts. each accommodating a ball-and-socket joint having connected thereto one end of a curved rocker which extends through an orifice formed in the moulded cover for the body. the other end of the rocker terminating in a counterweight in a respective one of said hollow arm portions of said doll.

11. A doll according to claim 1, wherein said actuating means include various cable-operated control mechanisms connected to said rod by means slidably mounted thereon for operating various parts of said doll. 

1. An animated doll comprising a body having movable and deformable members associated with said body, each member being provided with a respective actuating means connected thereto, a hollow space formed in said body, a movable ponderable ball-like member mounted for movement inside the hollow space of the body and transmitting means for transmitting the displacements of said ball-like member to said actuating means, said transmitting means comprising a rod movable in said hollow space, said ball-like member being mounted like a counterweight at one end of said rod, means movably mounting said rod comprising a swivel bearing fixedly mounted in said body of the doll, said rod freely sliding and rotating in said swivel bearing according to the movement of said ball member and said actuating means being connected to said rod.
 2. A doll according to claim 1, comprising two casings, said hollow space being enclosed by one of said casings, said casings being proximate one another and separated by said swivel bearing, said ball moving in said one of said casings and said rod extending through both casings.
 3. A doll according to claim 2, wherein a first one of said casings is located in the trunk portion of the doll, the second casing being mounted within the head portion of the doll, said swivel bearing being substantially at the neck level of the doll.
 4. A doll according to claim 3, wherein said first and second casings are of substantially rigid, non-deformable, material.
 5. A doll according to claim 4, wherein the body of said doll is moulded from a deformable flexible material applied over said casings.
 6. A doll according to claim 5, wherein said second casing is pivotally supported on a ball joint adjacent to said swivel bearing.
 7. A doll according to claim 5, wherein both casings are held in their respective positions in spaced apart relation to one another by the moulded material.
 8. A doll according to claim 7, wherein said swivel bearing is supported in the body of the doll between two conical parts having passages communicating with a bore in the swivel bearing to permit angular motion of said rod.
 9. A doll according to claim 8, wherein one of said parts constitutes the bottom of the skull and the other an insert fixed below the skull.
 10. A doll according to claim 5, wherein said movable members include hollow arm portions and the actuating means therefor include a spherical member slidably mounted on said rod within the trunk casing, said spherical member comprising two parts, each accommodating a ball-and-socket joint having connected thereto one end of a curved rocker which extends through an orifice formed in the moulded cover for the body, the other end of the rocker terminating in a counterweight in a respective one of said hollow arm portions of said doll.
 11. A doll according to claim 1, wherein said actuating means include various cable-operated control mechanisms connected to said rod by means slidably mounted thereon for operating various parts of said doll. 